


Mid-Semester Letters

by LindeHobbit



Series: Writing Our Hearts [5]
Category: Call Me By Your Name (2017), Call Me by Your Name - André Aciman
Genre: Feelings, Light Angst, M/M
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-04-16
Updated: 2019-04-16
Packaged: 2020-01-14 22:13:21
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,383
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/18485443
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/LindeHobbit/pseuds/LindeHobbit
Summary: The semester is humming along, and Elio and Oliver are keeping their pens busy.The series that this work belongs to is mostly CMBYN movie-verse, with a few details from Andre Aciman's novel thrown in where I want them.Your comments mean SO MUCH to me, and help me know what's working (and not working) in these stories. Thank you!Please do not re-post my work without my permission. Thank you.





	Mid-Semester Letters

Friday, October 19, 1984

Dear Marzia,

Thank you for your letter! It was so nice to hear from you and catch up on your news. And I confess that, at this point, I’m getting used to writing to you in English. It doesn’t seem as strange anymore, probably because your English is so good these days! You’ve worked very hard, and it’s really paid off.

I’m glad to hear that you’re enjoying your studies so much, and are having fun exploring the city of Cambridge also. As you predicted, I am VERY JEALOUS that you got to hear Evensong at King’s College; that’s one of the best choirs in the world, you know, as I’m sure your roommate told you! I definitely need to come visit you so we can all go together. Your roommate sounds very nice, by the way, and of course that’s awesome that she’s a music major. I approve! Sounds like you’ve met lots of nice people. I honestly can’t imagine anyone not liking you, _mon amie,_ but I’m glad to hear that you’re feeling so at home at Gonville and Caius, and in Cambridge.

I am totally psyched about the possibility of you coming to New York for an exchange semester! I really, really hope that can happen. It would be so fun to show you around. We could have coffee and pastries at Francesca’s, this wonderful Italian bakery I found that is actually run by an Italian (Francesca, who’s become like my New York mother, or maybe more like my New York Mafalda). And there are incredible museums, Central Park to wander in, so much music to hear everywhere, fantastic bookstores, and ridiculously good food from all over the world. This place is huge and overwhelming at times, but it’s pretty amazing! I think you would love spending time here.

I’m curious: are you and Jean Marc still dating? You mentioned him briefly in your last letter, but it was such a casual, passing reference that it made me wonder. Sorry, I’m just being nosy Elio, as usual… you know I don’t beat around the bush (English expression that means _tourner autour du pot,_ just in case you aren’t familiar with the idiom). All I care about is you being happy, either with or without him.

I am doing pretty well. Oliver and I had a breakthrough of sorts in our relationship last weekend. On Saturday, he went to his family’s home in Connecticut, a couple of hours north of New York City by train, for his father’s retirement party. When he was getting ready to go, it was obvious how much he hated the thought of it. He was a nervous wreck! He’d actually been mentioning that he was dreading the trip for a couple of weeks, so I had time to plan a little care package to send with him on the train. I put together some food, candy, and a cassette of me playing the piano, and I wrote him a note. He told me several times afterwards how much it meant to him, and that the tape, especially, really calmed him down. I was glad to be able to do something to help.

Oliver’s weekend ended up being a mixed bag: better time than he had expected with his brother, sister-in-law, and new nephew (Oliver became an uncle last month!), but really unpleasant, hurtful time with his parents. They sound horrible! They are very disapproving of the way that Oliver is living his life: his profession, the fact that he broke off his engagement, everything. And probably needless to say, they don’t know about me. But here’s where the breakthrough happened: Oliver actually TALKED to me about all of it when he got back. In the past, he has been reluctant to tell me about his family; he always deflects or changes the subject. But I got him to open up to me about the weekend, and once he started talking, he didn’t stop for quite a while. It was good. It made me feel like he really trusts me. I don’t know if or when Oliver will ever feel comfortable coming out to his family and telling them about me, but at least now I understand better why it’s so hard for him. It made me really sad when he told me he was afraid that if he came out to his brother and sister-in-law, they might not let him see his nephew anymore. It’s awful that some people are like that! All of it crystalizes for me how very fortunate I’ve been to have such accepting people around me, my parents of course, and friends like you. From what Oliver has told me, I actually wonder if his brother and sister-in-law suspect already, and would be OK with it. Oliver concedes that this is at least possible. So anyway, now I’m just trying to give him time and space to figure things out, and I’m not pressuring him to tell his family. I feel like that needs to be entirely his decision.

I had an interesting lunch with my cousin Liz today. She reached out to me recently to suggest getting together. I don’t think you’ve ever met my Uncle Isaac, my father’s brother, and his wife, Aunt Muriel; they visited us in Crema once when I was very young, but then Uncle Isaac and Papá had a falling out not long after that, so I haven’t seen them since. Anyway, Liz is a little bit older than we are (she’s 22); she’s a grad student in physical therapy at Columbia. We got sushi and talked for almost two hours. I really felt like she was trying to reconnect with my part of the family; she asked a lot of thoughtful questions about me and my parents. She talked about her parents some also, but it sounds like she doesn’t actually see them that often even though they live in Brooklyn. When she mentioned them, it was usually with an eye-roll or a huff. I think a lot of the drama revolves around her parents being pretty conservative religiously. I don’t know much about American Judaism, but it sounds like my aunt and uncle basically think Liz should be trying much harder to meet a nice, rich Jewish guy who can provide for her so that she can get married, stay home, and have children. But Liz doesn’t want to do any of those things! She loves her work in physical therapy, and she swears she will never get married. I told her she should do whatever she wants to with her life. And me being me, I also told her about Oliver. I figured I had nothing to lose…I barely know her, and if she was offended, it would be no great loss to me. But she wasn’t offended at all. She said that she was honored that I’d told her, and that she hopes to meet Oliver one day.

After Uncle Isaac, Aunt Muriel, and Liz visited us in Italy (I think I was three, so Liz would have been seven), I remember Maman saying that Liz and I looked like we could be siblings. And as adults, I can still see the resemblance (not surprisingly, I suppose, since Uncle Isaac and my dad look quite a bit alike, from what I remember). Liz and I have the same eye color, a similar shape to our faces, and basically the same hair color, though her hair is straight. Anyway, I brought my camera to lunch, and I asked the waiter to take a picture of us. I’ll show it to you in December. It’s an interesting experience to “meet” new family at age 18!

Juilliard continues to kick my butt, but in the best way possible. I feel like I’ve learned more in my lessons with Dr. Shapiro in the past seven weeks than I had in the last year with my teacher in Milan. I don’t mean any disrespect to Signore Di Luca; he is a good teacher, and I made a lot of progress with him over the years. But I think I was just ready for the next step, you know? I played on my first studio recital this past week (Rachmaninoff’s Prelude in D, Op. 23, No. 4…so romantic and gorgeous!), and Dr. Shapiro seemed very pleased. I also had an accompanying gig of sorts this week; the regular accompanist for the Juilliard Concert Choir was out of town, so somehow Dr. Shapiro arranged for me to accompany for their rehearsals. He firmly believes that I need to gain more experience with accompanying since it’s a very marketable skill for pianists. I think it’s a good learning experience for me. You have to be so present to both the conductor and the ensemble; you can’t space out! And it’s very collaborative. I think it has a lot more in common with playing chamber music than with solo piano performance. Speaking of which, chamber music is something else Dr. Shapiro wants me to do; I’m working on putting together a group to perform some of Beethoven’s piano trios…I’ve found a violinist, and I’m trying to convince a cellist I know to join the group. I’m excited about that!

Oliver came to the studio recital on Wednesday evening, which was really sweet of him. It made me so happy to look out in the audience and see him smiling and clapping; it meant a lot to me. We went out for Ethiopian food afterwards, which was sooooooo delicious! I got crazy full, though; I think the injera (the bread) must expand in your stomach or something. Is there an Ethiopian restaurant in Cambridge? I’m sure there would be in London…have you gone to London yet?

Well, I should wrap this up so you don’t get bored and stop reading. I miss you, Marz. It won’t be too long now until I see you again…can’t believe that I’ll be heading home in just about 8 weeks. The semester is flying by! Oliver is coming home with me. We’ll fly into Milan, and then drive with Maman and Papá to Crema. So we’ll see you there! Yay!

Hope this letter finds you doing well, _mon amie._ Good luck with all you are doing! So glad you’re enjoying it all.

Love and hugs,  
Elio

 

* * * * *

 

Saturday, October 20, 1984

Dear Josh and Kate,

I just wanted to drop you a quick note to let you know how much I enjoyed seeing you last weekend, and meeting Adam. It was really good to have time to talk with you both and catch up properly. And holding Adam was definitely a major highlight of the weekend for me! He is so dear; congratulations again on his arrival.

I also want to thank you both for your support during the unfortunate breakfast conversation with Mother and Father. The kind looks that you sent my way did not go unnoticed, and really helped to make a difficult time easier. I also appreciated your efforts to redirect the conversation, though I don’t think that even a bulldozer could have done that. But truly, thank you both for your thoughtfulness.

I was touched by your invitation to come up to Boston to visit sometime, and I would very much like to do that. Perhaps when I get back from Italy in January, before the new term starts, I could come up for a weekend. Or we could try for a later time, closer to spring, if that’s better for you. Please let me know if there are any weekends that would be particularly convenient on your end.

My term continues to go well. My big survey class is fine, but I especially love my course on gender and sexuality in the art of Ancient Greece. It is a much smaller class, only 15 students, and they are really engaged; we have terrific discussions. I’m also hard at work on my new book on Aristarchus of Samos, a 4th-3rd century (BC) Greek philosopher who, among other things, presented the first-known model of the sun as the center of the universe (and the earth revolving around it). Interesting guy. The research is keeping me busy!

I hope this letter finds you both well, and Adam too. Please give Adam a kiss from his uncle! And Josh, I continue to think good thoughts for your efforts to become a partner in your firm. I’m sure you are a great asset to the firm, and they’d be foolish not to reward all of your time and hard work. Fingers crossed, big brother!

Take good care, all three of you.

With love,  
Oliver

 

* * * * *

 

Saturday, October 20, 1984

Dr. Alessandro Serra  
Dipartimento di Filosofia  
Sapienza - Università di Roma  
Piazzale Aldo Moro 5  
00185 Roma RM  
Italy

Dear Dr. Serra:

My name is Oliver Goldberg, and I’m an Assistant Professor of Philosophy at Columbia University in New York. I understand that Professor Samuel Perlman has written to you on my behalf; he is an important mentor in my developing career, and I am very fortunate to have spent the summer of 1983 working with him at his home in northern Italy. Professor Perlman and his family have invited me back to Italy for the winter holidays, and he thought that you would be an excellent contact for me with regard to my current project. I am beginning work on my second book, an exploration of the work of Aristarchus of Samos. I understand that your university’s archives house a number of resources that would greatly enhance my research. I would also be honored if you would consent to an interview; your work in this area is ground-breaking, and I am confident that your input could help to direct my research and thinking in very positive ways.

Will you be in Rome over the winter holidays? If so, would you be willing to take some time one day to meet with me? My schedule is quite flexible. I would be delighted to treat you to lunch for your trouble.

I hope, very much, to have the opportunity to meet you. Thank you for your consideration, and I hope your fall semester is going well.

With warm regards,  
Oliver Goldberg, PhD

**Author's Note:**

> Elio calls Marzia mon amie, which is French for “my friend.”
> 
> Tourner autour du pot = the French equivalent of the idiom “beat around the bush”
> 
> The Choir of King’s College, Cambridge, is famous in classical music circles for their excellence. They are the church choir for the Anglican chapel at King’s College, and sing for numerous services each week in that capacity, including Evensong services at 5:30 PM several days a week, and two services on Sundays. The choir records extensively, tours, and has performed on many a film soundtrack. It is a special joy (that I have experienced!) to catch them in Cambridge, singing for a “regular” service in the beautiful chapel at King’s College, which was completed in 1515. Marzia and her roommate are very lucky indeed.
> 
> When I think of what Elio’s cousin Liz looks like, I imagine Pauline Chalamet, Timothée Chalamet’s older sister. Here’s a picture of her from her IMDB profile:  
> https://www.imdb.com/name/nm6955492/mediaviewer/rm690164480
> 
> If anyone wants to listen to the piece that Elio played on his studio recital, here’s an achingly lovely recording of pianist Vladimir Ashkenazy performing it. I imagine Elio playing it very similarly.  
> https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1qoPDQzXVmk


End file.
